The BC Children’s Hospital Foundation’s Child Run took place recently in support of the hospital’s pediatric oncology treatment and research centers.
Runners met at the staging area at Vancouver’s Heather Street West and had the option of the scenic 5km route that wound through Queen Elizabeth Park or the 1 km fun run that that took place on a traffic free portion of Cambie Street.
Many of the event sponsors had chosen to promote their brand names with the help of signage produced by banner printing companies.
Each year, a young champion is selected for the race. This year’s winner was Shaelyn Stonnell, who, at eight years old, has already beaten cancer.
Prizes for the run included several sports jerseys, all of which were signed by members of the area’s professional hockey and football teams, four tickets to a BC Lions Game, bikes, and even two Air Canada tickets. These were donated by local companies and organisations.
Thanks to this year’s generous sponsors, who underwrote much of the cost for the event, all of the money raised will go to directly support children’s cancer treatment and research at the hospital. One area that the funds may be used for is to combine the inpatient and outpatient treatment units into one pediatric oncology floor.
It is not known yet how much money was raised by the run, but last year, the 5,100 participants raised over $1.7 million. There is every reason to expect that this year’s event will be just as much of a success.
